We survived!

I'm happy to report that our first vacation with a toddler was very sucessful! After a couple in-town stops (including my necessary Starbucks run) we were on the road by 7am. Since we woke up Brody around 5:30, he was sleepy enough to pass out within 10 minutes of the drive. He woke up for the last half an hour of the drive but I sat in the back seat with him and he was happy as a clam. We watched our nephew's basketball team shortly after arriving and like usual, Brody loved watching them play. Unfortunately they lost but the boys played hard! The girls team from their school was still in the tournament, so we came back Saturday night to see them play. And this is when we started to get way off of Brody's normal schedule.

Normal nap time at our house is around 12:30, last weekend, Brody finally got a chance for a nap around 3:30. Then he ate a late snack since he didn't actually get dinner until almost 8pm that night. And if you know Brody, you know that he's usually long in bed by 7pm. I anticipated a major meltdown at some point during dinner. Aside from his sleepy eyes, there was no meltdown and he was amazing.

The next morning we decided to take him in the hotel pool. He hasn't had any pool experience, so I was really excited to see how he'd react. Well....he cried. He loves warm baths so a 75 degree pool was apparently too cold for him. So he was one unhappy kid. We comforted him and tried to get him used to the water without giving up right away. He quickly got used to the water and started having fun. Luckily we had the pool to ourselves so it was fun to play with him.

After we watched another basketball game Sunday morning, we headed back on the road. Since we left after lunch, Brody was able to get his afternoon nap in the car. And so did his mommy!

As for all my concerns, I think they worked out well. And I learned a lot about traveling in the process. We were always able to find relatively healthy meals for Brody despite what we ate. Continental breakfast in the hotel was great and also allowed us to grab fruit for later! I will say I was a little dissapointed in the kids menu at the restaurant we went to Saturday night. There was mostly fried food options or burgers. We went with mac & cheese. Then for side dishes they offered cole slaw or fries. Really?!? No veggies?! So we asked to substitute veggies instead of fries. Not only did we pay extra for the vegetables but were charged for a glass of milk since we asked for that instead of soda. Apparently healthier choices will cost you! But we feel pretty strongly about getting Brody healthy options as much as possible and I'm willing to pay for it.

As for the hotel -- while not completely baby-proof, Brody managed to stay safe and entertained just fine. Though as we're planning our trip to New York in the fall, I'm definitely looking at an apartment style hotel room to give us more space. Not only to give him room to move around but to keep him separated from us when he's sleeping. It's hard for him to fall asleep when he can see us right next to him -- wide awake.

It was a fantastic weekend & I'm so glad that Brody handled all the change and disruptions so well. He truly goes with the flow and it makes it so easy on all of us.